I booked and prepaid through Expedia for two rooms at the Ryad Boustane hotel in Marrakech. The confirmation clearly stated: “No need to call to reconfirm this reservation.”
We arrived at the hotel at 9pm to discover that no booking had been received and we would have to find accommodation elsewhere.
We called Expedia, which seemed oblivious to the stress for two women in a foreign country late at night with nowhere to stay. We were on the phone for two-and-a-half hours while it offered inferior hotels or a room with a shared bed. The calls kept disconnecting while we were kept on hold, and Expedia never once called back – we had to ring and go through the initial screening process each time.
Eventually, around midnight, we were told rooms had been found at a hotel across town and we had to accept. The call disconnected while we were on hold and, after an hour, we called the alternative hotel ourselves. The manager said he had rooms spare but had received no call from Expedia, so we had to fund a taxi to get there and pay the £220 for the rooms ourselves.
By then, it was 1am, and I was starting to feel ill with the stress. Next morning I had to spend another three hours on the hotel phone negotiating with Expedia either to find us alternative accommodation, or pay for where we were.
Yet again, I was put on hold for up to an hour at a time. It eventually agreed to pay for our stay at the new hotel and offered money towards our meals, but insisted I claim back the first night’s accommodation, phone and taxi expenses once back in the UK.
We had lost half a night and a morning of our holiday. Moreover, we’d booked and paid for a traditional Moroccan hotel in the city centre and ended up in a modern hotel with poor food in the countryside, and had to pay £44 for a taxi into town each day.
On my return I asked for a refund of the extra £285 I’d had to spend, but all I’ve been offered is a £75 voucher.
DH, Southsea, Hampshire
It’s a disgrace that more than six weeks after receiving your complaint, Expedia had done nothing to atone for your spoiled £800 holiday. Within a day of hearing from the Observer, however, it was galvanised into action. It offered to refund your expenses in what it calls a “goodwill gesture,” and added £100 compensation and £200 in vouchers should you wish to risk your leisure time with it again. In an abrupt statement it says it apologises for the stress but declines to explain how it messed up so appallingly.
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